percentage of gays in usa population

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One in ten. It's the name of the group that puts on the Reel Affirmations gay and lesbian film festival in Washington, D.C., each year. It's the percent popularized by the Kinsey Report as the size of the gay male population. And it's among the most common figures pointed to in popular culture as an estimate of how many people are gay or lesbian.

But what percentage of the population is actually gay or lesbian? With the debate over same-sex marriage again an emerging fault line in American political life, the answer comes as a surprise: A lower number than you might think -- and a much, much, much lower one than most Americans believe.

Such a misunderstanding of the basic demographics of sexual behavior and identity in America has potentially profound implications for the acceptance of the gay-rights agenda. On the one hand, people who overestimate the percent of gay Americans by a factor of 12 seem likely to also wildly overestimate the cultural impact of same-sex marriage. On the other hand, the extraordinary confusion over the percentage of gay people may reflect a triumph of the gay and lesbian movement's decades-long fight against invisibility and the closet.

"My first reaction to that, aside from a little chuckle, is that it's actually a sign of the success of the movement for LGBT rights," said Stuart Gaffney, a spokesman for the group Marriage Equality USA . "We are a small minority, and we will never have full equality without the support of the majority, and a poll like that suggests the majority is extremely aware of their gay neighbors, coworkers, and friends."

In recent years, as homosexuality has become less stigmatized, pro-gay rights groups have come around to acknowledging that a smaller percent of people identify themselves as gay than some of the early gay rights rhetoric claimed, based on Alfred Kinsey's 1948 report, "Sexuality in the Human Male." His survey research on non-random populations in the immediate post-World War II period concluded that 10 percent of men "were predominantly homosexual between the ages of 16 and 55" and that 37 percent had had at least one homosexual experience in their lives, but did not get into questions of identity per se.

Higher numbers can be obtained when asking about lifetime sexual experiences, rather than identity. The Williams Institute found that, overall, an estimated 8.2 percent of the population had engaged in some form same-sex sexual activity. Put another way, 4.7 percent of the population had wandered across the line without coming to think of themselves as either gay or bisexual. Other studies suggest those individuals are, like the bisexuals, mainly women: The same CDC study that found only 1 percent of women identify as lesbian, for example, found that 13 percent of women reported a history of some form of sexual contact with other women.

"Estimates of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are substantially higher than estimates of those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual," the Williams Institute's Gary J. Gates concluded.

These numbers are significant because identity -- and not behavior -- is the central determinant of whether or not someone will seek a same-sex marriage. A straight woman who makes out a couple of times with a female friend in college is not going to seek a same-sex marriage, nor is a guy who fooled around once with a male friend while drunk in high school. Neither individual is demographically relevant to the question of how often same-sex marriages will occur. And it's not clear at all what fraction of bisexuals will seek out same-sex marriages.

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A new Gallup poll finds that Americans’ estimates of the percentage of gays and lesbians in the United States is “many times higher” than the actual percentage, demonstrating a distorted perception on the part of Americans of this demographic group.

As Breitbart News reported in July of 2014, the National Health Interview Survey, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – a highly definitive study from 2013 – found that fewer than 3 percent of respondents identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and only 1.6 percent self-identified as gay or lesbian.

Accompanying the vast distortion in the estimates of the percentage of gays and lesbians in the United States, militant LGBT groups have pressured activists in the judiciary to strike down state laws that restrict marriage to one man and one woman. Gallup indicates that, according to its survey, the percentage of Americans who favor legalized same-sex marriage is now at 60 percent.

[A]ll available estimates of the actual gay and lesbian population in the U.S. are far lower than what the public estimates, and no measurement procedure has produced any figures suggesting that more than one out of five Americans are gay or lesbian. The widely off-the-mark nature of Americans’ estimates is underscored by the finding that in the most recent update, from May 6-10, only 9% of Americans estimate that the gay and lesbian population is less than 5% — where Gallup’s tracking figure would put it — while at the other end of the spectrum, 33% estimate it as more than 25%.

“Younger Americans give higher estimates than those who are older, and women make significantly higher guesses of the gay and lesbian population than men do,” Gallup continues, noting that Americans between the ages of 18-29 estimate 28 percent of the U.S. population is gay/lesbian.

The more educated people who participated in the survey had lower estimates than less educated individuals, but still vastly higher than the actual percentage of gays/lesbians. Americans with postgraduate degrees estimated that 15 percent of the population is gay/lesbian, and those in high school or lower grades produced an estimate of 28 percent.

Gallup surmises the reason for the gross misperception on the part of Americans could reflect their lack of familiarity with demographic data or the fact that “prominent media portrayals of gay characters on television and in movies, even as far back as 2002, and perhaps the high visibility of activists who have pushed gay causes, particularly legalizing same-sex marriage.”

Drawing on information from four recent national and two state-level population-based surveys, the analyses suggest that there are more than 8 million adults in the US who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, comprising 3.5% of the adult population. In total, the study suggests that approximately 9 million Americans – roughly the population of New Jersey – identify as LGBT.

Among adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (1.8% compared to 1.7% who identify as lesbian or gay); women are substantially more likely than men to identify as bisexual; estimates of those who report any lifetime same-sex sexual behavior and any same-sex sexual attraction are substantially higher than estimates of those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. There are also nearly 700,000 transgender individuals in the US. An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2%) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and nearly 25.6 million Americans (11%) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction.

1/19/2016 · Manustatud video · How many gays are there in the United States ? The number of gay, lesbian, ... Gay Population Statistics 2. Why The Total Number Of …

Despite attitudes to LGBT people slowly changing across the US and worldwide, there is still a very tough path ahead for most people who identify as LGBT. This article is a run down of some of the most significant LGBT bullying statistics.

LGBT youth frequently deal with bullying in the form of harassment, violence, and attacks. Studies have shown that LGBT students constantly received bigoted verbal abuse such as name-calling like homo , fag or sissy more than two dozen times per day.

During 2005 the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) conducted a study concluding that appearance was the number one reason for bullying. The second most common reason was actual or assumed sexual orientation and gender identity. According to a 2007 study by GLSEN, 86 per cent of LGBT youth report being harassed at school. This ratio is very high when compared to to 27 per cent of all students being bullied at school , as reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics in 2013.

GLSEN reports on one trans-gendered youth who sought to defend herself against bullies. She reported the bullying to the vice-principal who did nothing to stop the bullying, which had gone on for two years. When the school took no action, a fight broke out between her and three other girls. All the students received suspension, but the trans-gendered youth was the only one charged with criminal assault, even though the school said she was a victim in the incident.

Cyber bullying combined with bullying at school lowers self-esteem, which affects grades and mental health. 50 per cent of all youth do not understand that discriminatory language is offensive, nor do they realize the negative impact on LGBT youth. GLSEN also found that LGBT youth spend more time online than youth in general. LGBT youth make friends online, and use the Internet to gather information about sexuality and health including information about HIV/Aids. LGBT youth are twice as likely to participate in political activities as other youth, making these connections online also. Because LGBT youth spend more time online, they are more likely the targets of cyber bullying.

GLSEN statistics show that students who experience bullying feel depressed, anxious and may have other health problems. Students, mistakenly identified as LGBT by their peers, suffer just as much as LGBT students do. Bullied LGBT students, who feel their school is unsafe, get lower grades, have worse attendance records, and are more likely to drop out of school. LGBT students have a disproportional amount of disciplinary problems that keep them out of school and make up 15 per cent of those incarcerated in juvenile detention. It is no wonder that the suicide rates are higher due to all these negative influences.

There are over 4,000 gay-straight alliance groups at high schools, colleges, and universities in the USA. The goal is to create a safe environment for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification. In California, there are about 880 such groups in high schools. This represents more than 50 per cent of high schools in the state.

Bullying of all types has reached epidemic proportions. LGBT youth are specific targets. However, the positive responses against bullying are increasing. It Gets Better is a website where over 580,000 pledged to stop bullying of LGBT youth, which features over 30,000 user submitted video messages of encouragement.

For every 100 people in Britain, just 1 will identify themselves as gay or lesbian according to the latest government statistics. The numbers (which include gender, location and age) may come as a surprise - but why?

93.5% of people said they were 'heterosexual' or 'straight', just 1.1% said they were 'gay' or 'lesbian' and 0.4% said they were bisexual. The small fraction that was left either refused to answer or said they didn't know. Altogether, amounts to about 545,000 homosexual and 220,000 bisexual adults in the UK.

The claim that just 1.5% of people in Britain are gay, lesbian or bisexual will come as a surprise to some - even perhaps those in government. When they were analysing the financial implications of the new Civil Partnerships Act, the Treasury estimated it was 6% . Stonewall, a gay rights charity reckon that 5-7% "is a reasonable estimate".

Do those figures seem low? One reason they might is that the number one in ten has long-persisted in popular culture as a reliable guesstimate of homosexuality rates. That number made its way into public assumptions and poor press reporting through the Kinsey Reports, two books written by a zoologist at Indiana University - Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (written in 1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).

Though the reports broke long-held taboos on reporting about sexual orientation, the methodology used by Kinsey quickly came under strong criticism for being extremely unreliable. Soon after it was published, statisticians from the American Statistical Association claimed " a random selection of three people would have been better than a group of 300 chosen by Mr. Kinsey ".

And yet, many people estimate even higher numbers than Kinsey himself did. In 2011, a Gallup poll asked over 1,000 adults across the US "what % of Americans today would you say are gay or lesbian?". On average, respondents guessed that 1 in 4 Americans were.

Fascinatingly, Democrats guessed a higher % of Americans were gay than Republicans did (28% compared to 20%) and higher estimates were also given by lower-income Americans, less educated individuals, young people and women. So we know lots of people get it wrong, what do the latest statistics say?

While 1.5% of men in the UK say they're gay, only 0.7% of women say the same. But that trend is reversed when it comes to the identity 'bisexual' - 0.3% of men select this, compared to 0.5% of women. Slightly more women than men say 'don't know' or refuse to answer the question - 3.8% compared to 3.5% of men.

The campaign for gay marriage in the United States is continuing to gain momentum in 2014 with new legislation extending the rights of the gay community and high profile boycotts of homophobic businesses. While there are many outspoken critics of these proposals, the voices of gay marriage and LGBT activists are now firmly in the public sphere – where they plan to stay. The movement for equal rights is now taking place at a local, state and national level. There’s still plenty of progress to be made; only 17 states currently permit gay marriage, while 29 have a ban on marriage between members of the same sex. It should be noted that those states that have already passed same sex marriage laws have much higher populations than those that have not.

Utah and Oklahoma have recently upheld the ban on gay marriage; if these states were to permit same sex marriages, then a total of 46% of Americans would live in a state that allowed for marriage between all consenting adult couples. The newest grey area in regards to gay marriage is Pennsylvania, whose laws are being challenged by a number of same sex couples in the state. If they, too, were to permit gay marriage, the percentage of Americans living in an equal-rights-for-all state would rise to 50% – a tipping point that would force the matter into a federal debate. A Washington Post-ABC news poll last month revealed that 59% of Americans are in favour of same sex marriage, an indicator that this is an issue which should be addressed at national level.

In light of this public debate, we’ve taken a look at the figures of people identifying themselves as gay in each state, and ranked them according to size. The social and cultural background to these states is important and the list gives a sense of which states are the most – and least – gay-friendly.

The first to make our list, Washington state has for a long time had a healthy relationship with its gay community: the state and in particular the city of Seattle have a vibrant LGBT community. As well as gay districts, there are also LGBT and transgender film festivals held in Washington, and Seattle even has gay-friendly travel agents. The gay-friendly community is pretty long-standing here, but Washington was officially recognized as an equal-rights state when they passed laws allowing same sex couples to marry in 2012. The state is one of only three in the country that have passed same sex marriage laws by popular vote, becoming the first ever to do so on December 9 th 2012. There are now over 19,000 same-sex couple households in the Washington.

Nestled in the liberal north east of the country, Massachusetts is another perhaps predictable entry on our list. That’s because the state was the first in America to legalise same sex marriage, all the way back in May 2004. Since then a number of states in the region have passed similar laws, making Massachusetts the ultimate LGBT advocate. With the state having a population of around 6.7 million, the LGBT community represents under 5% of the state’s population. Thanks no doubt in part to Massachusetts’ pioneering efforts for equal rights in the LGBT and transgender community, there are well over 20,200 same-sex couple households living in this state.

Another state in which there is no marriage or partnership provision for same sex couples, Georgia still has a large LGBT population. Atlanta, in particular, is known for its lively gay community. In terms of legality, Georgia’s gay community is being left behind: in 2004 the state passed a law defining marriage as only taking place between a man and a woman. At that time, 76% of Georgians voted in favour of a same sex marriage ban. This trend is similar to that of the majority of southern states. On a map of same sex marriage laws in the US, it’s pretty clear that Georgia, if it follows the trend of most of neighbouring states, isn’t planning on budging any time soon. It’s a bleak outlook for the 21,000 same-sex couple households in the state.

At the same time that Georgia passed a law defining marriage as only taking place between members of the opposite sex, so too did Ohio. While the state may have over 300,000 openly gay people living in its borders, the laws of the land exclude all these civilians – 3.6% of the population – from the basic right to marry. In February of this year, four same sex couples took their case to court to challenge the ban on gay marriage in Ohio, while LGBT rights groups such as Equality Ohio are active in the region. Another one to watch in the months ahead.

The 362,048 gay people living in Illinois are offered the same rights as everyone else in the state, thanks to the same sex marriage laws which were passed in November 2013 -making it the sixteenth state to pass such a law in the United States. Prior to this, civil partnerships were permitted between couples of the same sex. In the main city of Chicago, Gay Pride is a major celebration: as well as the conventional bars and social events, Chicago’s gay district – Boys Town – also has a network of support services for members of the LGBT community, as well as bookshops, cafes, and even an organic vegetable store!

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The American public estimates on average that 23% of Americans are gay or lesbian, little changed from Americans' 25% estimate in 2011, and only slightly higher than separate 2002 estimates of the gay and lesbian population. These estimates are many times higher than the 3.8% of the adult population who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in Gallup Daily tracking in the first four months of this year.

The stability of these estimates over time contrasts with the major shifts in Americans' attitudes about the morality and legality of gay and lesbian relations in the past two decades. Whereas 38% of Americans said gay and lesbian relations were morally acceptable in 2002, that number has risen to 63% today. And while 35% of Americans favored legalized same-sex marriage in 1999, 60% favor it today.

The U.S. Census Bureau documents the number of individuals living in same-sex households but has not historically identified individuals as gay or lesbian per se. Several other surveys, governmental and non-governmental, have over the years measured sexual orientation, but the largest such study by far has been the Gallup Daily tracking measure instituted in June 2012. In this ongoing study, respondents are asked "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?" with 3.8% being the most recent result, obtained from more than 58,000 interviews conducted in the first four months of this year.

As Gallup pointed out in its initial report of LGBT data in 2012, "Exactly who makes up the LGBT community and how this group should be measured is a subject of some debate ," and "There are a number of ways to measure lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientation, and transgender status. Sexual orientation can be assessed by measuring identity as well as sexual behaviors and attractions." Thus, even though these large sample sizes provide great precision regarding the specific measure used, they do not represent the only way to estimate the percentage of the population that is gay or lesbian.

Still, all available estimates of the actual gay and lesbian population in the U.S. are far lower than what the public estimates, and no measurement procedure has produced any figures suggesting that more than one out of five Americans are gay or lesbian. The widely off-the-mark nature of Americans' estimates is underscored by the finding that in the most recent update, from May 6-10, only 9% of Americans estimate that the gay and lesbian population is less than 5% -- where Gallup's tracking figure would put it -- while at the other end of the spectrum, 33% estimate it as more than 25%.

Republicans and conservatives are much less likely than others to consider gay and lesbian relations morally acceptable and to favor legalized same-sex marriage, and Republicans provide estimates of the gay and lesbian population that are somewhat lower than those made by other party groups. Similarly, those who are opposed to legalized same-sex marriage give modestly lower estimates of the gay population than those who favor it. The causality in these relationships could run both ways; attitudes toward gays and lesbians could be conditioned by views of how prevalent they are in the population, or estimates of their prevalence could reflect underlying attitudes toward the group.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 6-10, 2015, with a random sample of 1,024 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

The percentage of adults in the United States who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) ranges from 1.7% in North Dakota to 5.1% in Hawaii and 10% in the District of Columbia, according to findings from a new study released by Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar, Gary J. Gates, and Gallup Editor-in-Chief, Frank Newport. The study is the largest population-based survey ever conducted that includes measurement of LGBT identification.

While LGBT communities are clearly present in every state in the union, their visibility is generally higher in states with greater levels of social acceptance and LGBT supportive legal climates. With the exception of South Dakota, each of the states with populations 4 percent and over has laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These states have also taken steps toward more LBGT equality by recognizing same-sex marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships. Iowa is the only state among those with the lowest LGBT populations to extend similar rights. In fact, six of the ten states with the lowest LGBT populations are among the most conservative states in the country.

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There are many reasons bullies target certain people, which is why we are taking a look at gay bullying statistics, because so many homosexual individuals are the target of bullying. Gay bullying statistics are often a huge contributing factor to the number of bullying incidents daily.

According to the gay bullying statistics from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, about one fourth of all students from elementary age through high school are the victims of bullying and harassment while on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion or sexual orientation. Unfortunately the primary reason for bullying is due to something that may set themselves apart from the norm, and that includes sexual orientation.

According to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit teen suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down on problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors.

In a 2005 survey about gay bullying statistics, teens reported that the number two reason they are bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression. The number one reason reported was because of appearance. Teens are at a pivotal point in their young adult lives when they are trying to find out who they are and who they are about to become as adults. This is why being teased, bullied and harassed is something that could negatively affect a person’s self-esteem and view of themselves for the rest of their life.

When it comes to bully prevention, it is important to remember that these gay bullying statistics will never go down if action isn’t taken. This is why it is important for teens to report incidents they are victims of, or even if they witness a bullying event take place. Even if it seems that the adults will be unresponsive to take action, there are always other members of the school board or administration that can be addressed. It is important not to give up or the bullying cycle will continue.

The greatest percentage of LGBT Americans live in the San Francisco metro area, where 6.2 percent of the population identified as LGBT. It was followed by areas around Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and New Orleans.

Efforts to quantify the LGBT population, both by the government and outside polling sources, are relatively new, with much still unknown about this subsection of America. The U.S. Census has worked to include new questions and answers to account for LGBT populations . In July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the first comprehensive survey measuring sexual orientation, finding that 1.6 percent of adults identify as gay or lesbian and 0.7 percent identify as bisexual.

Because of the small percentages of LGBT Americans , gathering accurate data is somewhat of a challenge. This survey, for example, was from a random sample of close to 400,000 adults – a large number as survey samples go, even for surveys that drill down past the state level.

Perhaps the most remarkable takeaway from the new Gallup numbers is how little variation there is between metro areas. The difference between Birmingham, at the bottom of the list, and San Francisco, at the top, is only 3.6 percentage points, showing that America's LGBT population is not confined to a particular area or region of the country, but spread out fairly evenly – despite the unequal rights and protections LGBT Americans experience in different states.

In a previous Pew Research Center survey , LGBT Americans indicated the West as the region with the most social acceptance of people who are LGBT, with 51 percent saying there was a lot of acceptance in their Western city or town. When choosing a place to live though, only 12 percent said the level of social acceptance was a major consideration and 20 percent said it was a minor consideration.

Today, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act’s key section, which prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages and denied same-sex couples who were married under state law a panoply of federal benefits — from favorable tax treatment to the ability to be buried together in veterans’ cemeteries — that are available to opposite-sex married couples.

Which got us wondering: How many same-sex marriages have there been in the United States since 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize them? Our best estimate: At least 71,165, but almost certainly more.

Gathering reliable figures on same-sex marriages turns out to be a lot trickier than one might think — largely because, as Justice Kennedy wrote in his DOMA opinion , “[b]y history and tradition the definition and regulation of marriage…has been treated as being within the authority and realm of the separate States.”

Among other things, that means each state can decide how it collects and publishes marriage statistics. We were able to obtain figures from eight of the nine states that currently permit same-sex marriage. Maryland, where same-sex marriage became legal as of Jan. 1, has yet to compile figures on how many there have been; data from the District of Columbia, which legalized same-sex marriage effective March 2010, weren’t available. (Three more states — Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island — will begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses later this summer.)

Massachusetts, which has authorized same-sex marriages the longest, also has had the most: 22,406 through 2012. New York had at least 12,285 same-sex marriages in 2011 and 2012; Connecticut witnessed 5,759 from 2009 through 2011. Nearly 2,500 same-sex couples were married in Washington state between Dec. 6, 2012 and March 31 of this year. Maine, where same-sex marriages became legal on Dec. 29, had 428 through last week.

California presents a special case. Same-sex marriages there were performed from June 2008, when the state Supreme Court legalized them, until voters passed Proposition 8 that November, which inserted a ban in the state constitution. In the absence of any official state figures, we relied on an estimate by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute that 18,000 same-sex marriages took place in California during the four-and-a-half months they were legal; the state still recognizes those marriages. (The Supreme Court today also declined to rule on an appeal of a lower-court ruling invalidating Proposition 8, essentially clearing the way for same-sex marriages to resume in that state.)

First, there are significant lags in most of the states’ data. Many states have yet to compile marriage statistics for 2012, and only a few have counts for any part of 2013. New York City, which keeps marriage records separately from the rest of New York state, counted 7,184 same-sex marriages in the year after they were legalized in July 2011, but the city hasn’t released any figures since.

Also, some states no longer require couples applying for marriage licenses to designate their genders (asking for “Party A” and “Party B,” for instance, instead of “bride” and “groom”). In 2012, for instance, New York state’s preliminary marriage count (excluding New York City) was 50,899 opposite-sex couples, 2,865 same-sex couples, and 7,950 couples where the gender of at least one spouse was unknown. At least some of those unknown-gender couples likely are same-sex.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Unlike some other viruses, the human body cannot get rid of HIV. That means that once you have HIV, you have it for life.

Within a few weeks of getting HIV, some people get flu-like symptoms that last for a week or two, but others have no symptoms at all. After initial infection, people may not have any symptoms for years. HIV can be controlled with the right medical treatment and care. However, if it’s left untreated, it may develop into AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).